Lucien stared at this unexpected change for a while. Extreme Mode Player… Unable to make sense of it, he touched the text.
"GENRE MASTER Extreme Mode Player (F): You are a player who takes pleasure in facing and overcoming the hardest challenges in all games that exist in the world, and takes pride in it. If there is sufficient difficulty and enough things to do, you can play any type of game regardless of genre.EFFECT: While fighting an enemy stronger than yourself, all stats +15%.Class locks in the shop have been removed."
It was a simple but clear description, especially for someone like Lucien who had spent years playing games.
"So they want to throw me in front of dangerous enemies? This is madness."
Mai was looking at Lucien as if there was something different about him now, as if he were dangerous.
"What does Genre Master even mean? I've never seen it on anyone before," Mai broke the silence. "And it gives you extra power? None of us have anything like that."
Lucien looked at Mai in surprise. "What does yours say?"
Mai started speaking a bit shyly.
"Forced Player: You are someone who does not play games and has no place in this new world. Make a Genre Class accept you."
Mai looked at Lucien gloomily. "What do you think this means? Genre Class, I mean?"
Lucien began thinking quietly. This place was starting to turn into a game world—goblins, dungeons, quests, and classes.
"Maybe…" He hesitated.
Mai looked at Lucien with excitement and anxiety.
"Maybe Genre Classes are players who already have a class. You mentioned some kids in your class who had different classes from you."
"FPS Player," Mai interjected. "So you think they're Genre Class players?"
Lucien thought a bit more. "It's possible. I also couldn't see some of my information until I fought the goblins and completed my first quest. There might be things they don't know either—or maybe things they're hiding from you."
His last words made both of them tense.
"Why would they want to hide anything?" Mai slowly sat down on the floor, thinking in confusion.
"They're gamers. Every player wants to get the best and rarest loot for themselves and hide their abilities. If they have some trump cards, they might want to use them later."
Lucien sat down next to Mai.
"Anyway, let's see what we've earned. The most fun part of games is the rewards."
Lucien shook the bronze box he had obtained earlier. There was no button to open it.
"How does this thing open? Open."
The moment he said it, a new screen appeared.
"Bronze Key required."
"Great! Now do I have to risk my life just to find a key too?"
His morale dropped a little, but there were still many things he was curious about.
"Anyway, let's check the shop."
He immediately opened the shop page. It looked like a simple online shopping site. There was a button labeled "Genre" and empty boxes underneath it.
He pressed the Genre button—the only option available—and a long list of game genres appeared.
"FPS, SPORT, RPG, MMORPG, HORROR, SURVIVAL, ACTION, ADVENTURE, OPEN WORLD, DATE SIM, SIMULATION, TYCOON, STRATEGY… There are dozens of genres here."
After thinking for a bit, Lucien touched the RPG button. Another page opened, filled with items—skill books, weapons, clothes, and all kinds of necessary and unnecessary items you'd find in any RPG.
Almost all of them were locked. The locked items had different requirements written on them.
"Tier 5 RPG Player""Tier 9 RPG Player"
Only a few basic items were available.
"Training Sword""Training Axe""Training Wand"
And similar weapons and armor common to every RPG. Prices were written under each one.
The cheapest sword cost 70 GOG or 250 GG.
"What do GOG and GG mean?"
Lucien fiddled with the screen a bit and found the answer.
"GG: Genre Gold — a currency exclusive to a specific genre market.""GOG: Gold of Game — a currency used in inter-genre markets and auction houses."
"So there's a market open to everyone? Others are affected by this too?"
Mai grew even more frightened. She leaned her head on Lucien's shoulder and tried to calm herself.
"This… this isn't happening only in our school, right?"
Mai's last words were exactly what Lucien feared most. Had everyone become a Player? Were there goblins everywhere—or maybe something even worse?
"I think the only way to find out is to get out of here and contact our families."
Lucien examined the markets of different genres, and something caught his eye.
"GACHA."
He immediately entered the market. It looked different from the others. Unlike the rest, there was only a single box and a button labeled ROLL.
One roll cost 10 GOG or 100 GG.
When Lucien checked his wallet, he realized he had 15 GOG.
"So one goblin gives 5 GOG. That's actually pretty cheap."
He pressed the ROLL button. A wheel filled with many items suddenly appeared on the screen.
As the wheel spun, the items kept changing. Each rotation showed random items belonging to different genres.
The wheel began to slow down and stopped on a segment labeled FIGHTING GENRE.
"PUSH (R): Fighting without using weapons knocks the enemy back. Increased strike damage +10%, increased impact damage +10%."
Lucien was shaken by the sudden flood of information filling his mind. It felt like needles were piercing his brain, but it didn't hurt.
"This is amazing… So I just gained a skill now?"
He smiled happily and looked at Mai.
Mai lifted her head from Lucien's shoulder, blushed slightly, and nodded.
"Congratulations. You're stronger now."
Just as both of them began to relax, a new screen appeared in front of them.
"The servants are about to break the seal of the Great Goblin. Stop them.QUEST: Kill 300 GoblinsTIME: 12 hours."